Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1887-10-27
CANNIBAL AT WHIST.
A TicklIsh Game In Which Man-Este
TOOk Part,

Took Part.
/ have known two Cannibals intimately,
and they were both most agreeable men.
One was my host in New Zealand and the
other my partner at whist in Fiji. The
race is dying out so fast, and the opportun-
ity of counting cannibal among our ac-
quaintance is growing so rare, that my inn
pressiOns of them aud this remark on the
subject may not be without interest.
During trip through the North Island
ofNew Zealand in 1SSO l met in the viciu-
ity of the beautiful Bay of Islands the old
Maori chief TIE Hemera At this time he
was approaching 50 years Of age, but his
intellect was bright and his memory ap-
parently unimpaired. In his younger
DAYS he must have been a man OF magnifi-
cent physique, but now he was bent and
withpred and his wonderfully tattooed face
resembled some curiOusly notified piece Of
parchment. All his life had been passed in
the North Island, mostly in the neighbor-
hood of Paihia. lie well remembered the
arrival Of the first white settlers,
and many and wonderful were the yarns
he told about them. On the subject Of
cannibaliSm he spoke ~ IN expert, having
partaken of many q human joint. From
him learned that the MaOris never in
dulged in cannibaliSm except in the case
of enemies killed or taken prisoner in bat
tie. Prisoners, however, were often kept
for wears as slaves, and then on the occasion
of some great feast occurring, taken and
killed. This would account for the stories
told by the early missionary settler OF the
slaughter Of human victims in time of
peace. Rarely except after a big battle, or
the wreck OF some ship ON their rock-bOund
coast, did the Alaoris indulge in a human
banquet. The feast was conducted with
considerable ceremony in a pa" specially
reserved for the purpose and which went
by the name of "Kai Tangata," which
means Eat Man" The method of cook
ing was as follows: The body was hung
I'D to a beam by the neck, scaldcd with
boiling water and carefully scraped with
oyster shells. Ii was then taken down,
the hair all cut otl and the head decapitated.
The brain being considered a great delicaCy,
WAS reserved for the chief. In the case of
men killed in hattie the heart was the pro-
perty of the slayer. The entrails We're
then taken out and the trunk filled with
hot stones. 1t was then placed in an oven
built in the ground, covered over with
stones and allowed to cook for at least
twelve hours. 1t was customary to place
the body in the oven about sunset and the
whole night during which the cooking was
going on was passed in feastlng and dan
cling. At early dawn the meat was taken
out and cut up for distribution. Some OF
the aesh was given to the women, and each
man on receiving his share retired to his
''pah" and ate il in private. TIE Hemera
could give me no reason tor this last GUS
tom, which is very curious one, rs at ali
other banquetS the food is eaten in public.
| fancy il must have originated from the
fact that their inOrdinate greed for human
hesh was apt to lead to quarrels during
the consumption of it. For it is held to
he a heinous crime to do anything to dis
turb the sacred harmony during the pro-
gress of the feast Sh old this be = SOlu-
ton of the custom it may be taken as 3
confirmation of the theory that the prac'
lice of cannibalism tends to brutalize
those who indulge in it. To show how
all-absorbing the taste becomes, TIE He
mora told me that on one occasion a
Young girl was allotted to him rs por'
ton of a number Distinguished victims, and
putting her into q canoe he carried hel
! far from the settlement into the bush
! and there remained until he had finished
| her. Can anything more CHASTITY be i'm
agined than this weird feast in the depths
of A New Zealand forest. Never. We are
apt to imagine, does man feel more neal
God than when he PAGES in solitude the
paths of some tenantleSs wild. How pass
ING strange it is that man clothed in the
very image of his Maker, men created but {
| little lower than the angels, should be capa
/ bic of devOuring with ghoulish glee his fel
| low man. confess that after hearing thi;
story l felt a loathipg for the old maj
which never got over, and was not sorry
10 leave him and his grim "Reminiscences
| far behind, while betOok myself to fresh
fields and pastures new.
PLAYING WHIST WITH A CANNIBAL.
From New England to the Fiji Islands
Is no great distance, and during fort
nights stay in that lovely group met
several notorious csnnibals. Moreover,
experienced the novel sensation OF playing
a rubber of whist with one Of them. Al
the time of the visit King Thakambau was
alive and much given to hospitality to any
travellers who visited Devaka. A hand
some allowance from the British govern
ment enabled him to indulge this whim
to his hearts content, and every
evening an entertainment of some sort
was provided at the palace. Thaksmbau
was then 63 years Of age, but looked older;
fine looking man standing over six feet